Hope and Betrayal
by GorgBar
Summary: What I believe should but would never happen after the season finale
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli & Isles. They are owned Janet Tamaro, TNT and whomever else, but not me. No infringement intended.**

**A/N: I know there are a buch of these out there, I just wanted to add in mine Let me know if you wonna know what happens next or if I should move on to other fics…Njoy**

It had been the worst two weeks of her life. Maura hadn't given her the silence treatment, nor did she shout, she just didn't talk to her. Jane had tried to say she was sorry countless times. But she couldn't change the fact that her best friend was slowly becoming nothing but a colleague. The only time Maura said anything personal to Jane was when she asked her not to come to Doyle's funeral, and even then she used the briefest sentence she could. With every passing day, Jane told herself to give the M.E. some time, that this kind of hurt needed time. But the distance, even if it was only two weeks, was killing her.

The different emotions Jane had gone through during those couple of weeks were overwhelming. Hurt, was the first one. Hurt at Maura's look of hatred, hurt at her unwillingness to talk or let Jane in, hurt at the betrayal she felt from Gabriel's action. The transition to pain was immediate. Pain resulting from the distance from the M.E. . And pain from the enormous guilt – she killed Maura's father, there was no way around that fact. But when the guilt was too much to take, anger took over. All she was doing, was her job. He was a mob boss for crying out loud! How could Maura not see that? These emotions of-course didn't stop her from trying to apologize to Maura. Constantly. Everyday. But the only response she got was a cold "I don't want to talk about it".

She went through every detail in her head, over and over again, each time coming to the same conclusion, she had no choice. Maura's father or not, he was still a mob boss with his gun aimed at her partner. Dean's death was a testament of him not being afraid to use said gun. She had to shot. What she didn't have to do, was set the wheels in motion. If only she had kept her mouth shut about Doyle, both he and Gabriel would still be alive. More than anything else Jane was angry at herself for not being the one to take that first shot. If she was fast enough then, she would have saved Maura before Doyle had to.

There was one other thing Jane couldn't get out of her mind, Maura's last words to her father, barely a whisper "What do you hope?". By the way Maura said the words, there was only one thing to deduce, Doyle said the word "hope" to her. Just that word. This didn't make sense to her. Was he about to say he hoped they had more time? No, Doyle was a man of action. He wanted Maura to know something, and Jane figured out exactly what that something was. She just couldn't tell Maura yet. Not until she had the proof she needed.

All this, couldn't change how sorry she was for the pain she put Maura in. It was painful watching the woman she loved so deeply, in so much pain. It was even more painful to know that she was the cause of it.

She missed Maura. She missed her terribly. At first, she missed hanging out with her, and then she started wondering what silly facts Maura would recall if she was there. When even the Sunday game wasn't enough to distract her, Jane knew she had to find her way back to Maura. She just had to. Laying on her bed, curled up, listening to "the ship song" on repeat, sniffing one of Maura shirts, Jane crooked her eyebrows at a realization – friends aren't supposed to feel this way. No matter how angry, hurt , guilty or afraid she might be feeling, lying in bed like this over a friend is NOT normal!

She wasn't the only one who realized this. Angela had seen her daughter's reactions. And when it became too much she went to see her daughter.

That night, Jane decided she would drink herself to sleep. She took a couple of beers out of the fridge, downed the first bottle and went to sit on the couch with the second, fully intending to repeat this several times. The knock on the door surprised her, for a second she hoped it might be Maura, scolding herself for being so naïve she went to the door to see who it might be. "Janey open the door" Angela's voice demanded. She rolled her eyes and did as her mother asked. "What are you doing here Ma?".

Angela didn't wait for an invitation and simply walked in. "Does a mother need a reason to come see her daughter.".

"Ma, this isn't a really good time", hoping her mother, who already sat herself on the couch would leave this alone.

"You love her don't you?" Angela inquired.

"What are you talking about Ma?" Where the hell did that come from?

"At first I didn't realize what Giovanni said about you appreciating breasts, but I understand now. And it's O.K." There was no anger or pain in her eyes, just honesty.

"Giovanni's just, well, he doesn't matter. Actually, none of this really matters now…" Jane saw that Angela was still looking at her, waiting for her to actually answer the question, so she tried to "I don't know Ma. O.K? I don't really know what it is that I'm feeling" Her own honesty was surprising her, but she had to give her mother at least that after what she had just said.

"Does she know?" The older woman inquired.

"No. I'm not even sure I know" Maybe it was the late hour, or maybe it was the lack of interesting conversations over the past two weeks but she was actually willing to talk to her mother. "Ma, I've never been…"

"With a woman? I know." Angela filled in the gap.

"No, Ma! Really? Come on! I've never been this afraid in my life. All I know is that I need her to forgive me" The tears started rolling off her eyes again and Angela immediately put her arms around her.

"She will, baby. She loves you just as much. You just have to give her a little bit of time. Just… don't give her too much time " The older woman smirked.

The next day, Jane decided she would step back. Give Maura some distance, use the time to find out what she needed about Hope. And when she found what she was looking for she placed everything in a manila folder and went down to the morgue with what she figured might be her olive branch. When the M.E. saw her approaching, she lowered her head and said "I don't have a C.O.D for you yet detective Rizzoli." And that was simply too much for Jane to endure.

"Are you kidding me? Detective Rizzoli? Maura, enough with this!" Jane was glad they were the only ones in the morgue at the moment.

"Detective, if you have any other questions, please feel free to e-mail them to me." Maura replied and retreated to her office, leaving Jane bewildered and unable to move. Her mouth opening and closing again and again. When she finally managed to lift her feet, she found them walking to the M.E's office. She needed to make this right and she needed to do it before things went too far. Jane opened Maura's office door, stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

"I'm sorry. I am so, so incredibly sorry for the pain you're feeling right now. Sweety I really am." When she saw that Maura, who was already sitting behind her desk, hadn't even lifted her eyes off the table she knew she had to change her strategy "But I'm not sorry for what I did." This made Maura's head shoot up in surprise. Anger, shock and pain evident in her eyes, but Jane was grateful for the look, it meant the M.E. cared.

"If I hadn't shot him, Frost would probably be dead right now. Innocent. Not mob boss - Frost. And I know you don't want to hear this, but Paddy Doyle was not above shooting cops!"

"Jane get out!" Maura raised her voice.

"The only thing I'm sorry for is telling Dean. I betrayed your trust, and I am so sorry for that, but trust me when I say I'm paying for it, two people are dead because of me. And I know that." The tall woman was walking closer to the desk.

"Jane, I asked you to leave." The M.E's hand was pointing at the door.

"Please. Please don't shut me out. If I could take it back I would but there's nothing I can do about it now. Just please talk to me. Tell me what I can do." Jane was begging and she knew it.

Maura voice was soft, her eyes pinned on Jane. She couldn't hold the pain back any longer, and her words simply came out of their own volition "I can't… do this anymore. Okay? When I look at you, all I see is betrayal. You were always this noble, beautiful woman to me and you simply aren't any more. You sold me out, you sold my father out for a guy you barely had two dates with. I just don't want to do this anymore."

Jane's heart sank and when she said nothing Maura continued "Jane, please leave me alone now. This is painful to me. I don't want to hurt anymore. And I don't wish to hurt you either". The sadness in her eyes was overwhelming and Jane's eyes started glistening, looking at the amount of pain she had caused and was still causing. But she couldn't back down. "No. I'm sorry Maur, but I can't leave. I'm not noble I'm a person. I'm a person who will do anything for you. I'm a person who made a horrible, terrible mistake. But I love you god dammit Maura. O.K?"

"Two dates Jane. Two. That's all it took you to put my life and my father's life in danger." Maura was getting angry.

"I didn't think. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I can't tell you I wouldn't have put him behind bars, Maura, because I would have. I would have put my own brother behind bars if he did something wrong. I can't change that. It's who I am. But I really didn't think things would happen the way they did. It wasn't about Gabriel, or the two dates. It was about me not being able to know I have information about paddy Doyle without doing something about it."

The M.E. just sat and looked at her without saying a word.

"Alright. Fine. I have something you'd wonna see…" Jane placed the manila folder on the desk. "I love you Maura. To be perfectly honest I think I'm **in** love with you". Maura's eyes shot up to meet hers. "I wish I could take what I did back. But I'll never be able to. At least know I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you."

At that she turned around leaving the M.E. blinking at the spot she was standing in. Words failing the tired honey blond, for the first time in her life.

**TBC?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli & Isles. They are owned Janet Tamaro, TNT and whomever else, but not me. No infringement intended.**

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing\alerting\favoriting **

The emptiness of the room wasn't the comfort she had hoped it would be. Jane left. But she did this after dropping a bomb shell. _She thinks she's __**in**__ love with me_? _How dare she? How dare she just drop it like that right now?_ But before Maura had a chance to even begin processing this new information, her hands had opened the folder on their own will and she was now starring at a piece of paper and an attached photo of an older woman. A woman, who obviously had Maura's honey-blond hair and kind large eyes.

Her curiosity, forcing her to forget about Jane's words for a moment, made her read the file. It was only several lines long. "Hope McKeon, 59 years old." The M.E.'s mind was racing back to her father's last words to her. _My mother._ _Jane found my mother._ The next few lines were an address in Boston and two different phone numbers. A post-it note with Jane's handwriting was glued to the inside of the folder:

"She gave birth to a baby-girl on your birthday and gave her away for adoption. I found a money trail from Doyle to her. Didn't know if you wanted the actual paperwork…

Sweety, I'm here for you. I really am.

Miss you!

Jane"

Leaning back in her chair, Maura tried to stop her mind from the unintelligible flow of thoughts overwhelming her. She had no idea what she was feeling. The only thing she was able to concentrate on was the thundering beat of her heart. This was too much to take in. What was she supposed to start dealing with first? Her father's death? Her best friend fault? Jane's feelings? Her own feelings? And the latest addition to the list – Her biological mother… She was always quite in-tune with her own emotions. Communicating them might have caused a problem before, but never understanding them. But right now? Right now she was angry and happy and exhausted, and hopeful and overwhelmed and missing her best friend. She needed Jane next to her. Jane, who found her mother for her. Jane, who… _Yep, there was that pain again…_

The M.E. Rose from her chair, took the manila folder and her bag and entered the morgue. She asked her assistant to call her if anything argent came up and notified him she was done for the day. When she reached her car, she realized driving in this condition was probably not the best idea she ever had, walking around in her Jimmy Choo's was out of the question. So she took a taxi home.

Boston streets appeared to be unfamiliar to her. For the first time in years she was looking at the buildings she drove by on a daily basis. Letting her mind choose the topics for her, she found herself replaying Jane's words over and over again. "To be perfectly honest I think I'm **in** love with you". Chocolate eyes were burning holes in her mind and she recalled an urge she hadn't even realized she had when she heard those words - the urge to kiss Jane. It wasn't the first time she felt that specific urge, or others similar to it. But it had no right to come up in the midst of all her anger! The Honey-blond opened her bag and placed the folder inside. _I've lived this long without knowing who she is, this will have to wait just a little while longer._ Jane. Jane was the one thought that couldn't wait any longer. Was Maura too harsh on her? _No. That's ridiculous! She's responsible for me not getting to know my father. She's responsible for his death. _And the immediate rebuttal her mind offered _She's a detective! Her sense of justice and her obligation to the law are large parts of what I love about her. Love… How can you love and hate someone so much at the same time?_

"We're here miss." The taxi driver offered when he noticed she was starring out the window, looking at her destination without moving. "Oh, Sorry", She answered and gave him a little over the amount the meter showed. Stepping out of the taxi, she mumbled a "thank you" and made sure she was placing one foot in front of the other, unsure of her ability to walk at the moment.

She walked inside her house, though if asked she could not recall actually unlocking or opening the door. The smell of cooking came from her kitchen, her mother was staying with her for a while, though Constance rarely cooked. "That's when you add the Zucchinis." Angela's distinctive voice was instructing, and Maura couldn't help her smile at the site of both older women in her kitchen wearing aprons and cooking together.

"Oh, hello dear". The elegant woman greeted her daughter.

"Hello mother. Hi Angela". As awkward as things may have been between her and Jane, Maura refused to allow it to effect her relationship with Angela.

"We're making your favorite pasta." Angela offered and turned back to stir the sauce.

"That's nice. Um… I will be in my room if you need me". The honey-blond smiled sincerely, but not fully and started walking towards the only place she might be able to think in.

_I need a list_._ That would solve it .I just need to write it all down_. Ever the scientist, the M.E picked up a pen and paper and sat on the edge of her bed. She drew a line in the middle of the page, separating two columns, she named the first "Forgive" and the second "Let her go" and started filling the page. Under "Forgive" she wrote "She meant no harm", "She loves me", "She's my best friend", "She risked her own life for me, more than once". And under "Let her go" she wrote "She killed my father" but immediately erased the last word, feeling as though she was somehow hurting her real father by writing this. "Paddy" was the word she wrote in it's place. She reached the second row, her pen pressed roughly on the paper, but the only word she managed to write was "Jane". Her eyes shutting as she remembered those words again _"I think I'm __**in **__love with you"_. "Oh Jane.".

The knock on her door stopped her line of thought and she raised her head to meet her mother's warm eyes. "You know, I think I have her to thank for our relationship". The elegant woman whispered, afraid to break her daughter's calmness.

Maura smirked "I'll add that to my list".

"Oh? And what list might that be?" Constance inquired, stepped into the room and went to sit beside Maura.

"Should I or should I not forgive her" The M.E. replied flatly.

"And you wrote a list for that?" It was the older woman's turn to smirk. "The people we love the most are often the ones who hurt us the most. Now, I know you don't believe Jane had wanted to hurt you. I suppose the important question is whether you're angry at her for causing you the pain you're in, or for something else."

"Mother, you're being awfully cryptic" Maura said with obvious confusion. "I'm angry because of the consequence. I'm angry because she betrayed my trust. I think most of all I'm angry because she placed her job ahead of me, and she did so in the most painful possible way."

"May I be frank darling?" Constance asked and continued upon receiving a nod from her daughter. "From what you've told me, it doesn't seem as though she put her job ahead of you. It seems like she put her partner's life ahead of Patrick's. The pain might feel the same, however, I'm not entirely sure if the blame should be the same… As for your trust… I'm guessing you mean telling that agent about Patrick?"

The M.E. sighed deeply and without looking at her mother said "Yes. We talked about it today and I think I should probably understand why she told him. I'm not sure understanding is enough…" After a short pause the younger woman continued. "Mother, she told me she loves me."

"Well that's rather obvious". An inelegant chuckle escaped the older woman's throat.

"No. Don't laugh mother. She said she's in love with me. Well, she said she thinks she's in love with me." The honey-blond was examining the other woman's reaction.

"That explains quite a lot actually" Constance replied with a smile "And how do you feel? Other than angry of course…"

"Confused?"

"My daughter? Confused. Well, that is a first." The older woman laughed. "Had she told you this three weeks ago, how would you have reacted?"

It was Maura's turn to laugh. The twinkle in her mother's eyes told her she already knew the answer to her question. "I should probably go talk to her"

"Yes. Yes, you should…" Constance replied and stood up.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli & Isles. They are owned Janet Tamaro, TNT and whomever else, but not me. No infringement intended.**

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing\alerting\favoriting I really do appreciate it! So does the smile that pops on my face with each one .**

**English is obviously not my mother tongue, and I know I make quite a few mistakes along the way… So, I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me know if you find repeated mistakes (I know how annoying those can get), so I can avoid making them in the future Thank you! **

"Uh… eh just a sec!" Jane called to the door, surprised to hear someone gently knocking. She stood up and walked to the door.

"Maura?" She asked while flinging the door open after looking through the peep hole.

"Hi." The M.E. answered, her face remaining blank.

"Hey. Um, come in. I… I would've d…" The brunette began apologizing for the mess in her living room but was cut short by the shorter woman. "I am angry with you". Maura said while walking towards the couch, allowing Jane to close the door behind her.

"Okayyy?" It wasn't quite a question but it could not be called a statement either.

"I am hurt… deeply hurt. I know your intentions were good, I don't doubt that. But your actions… I'm simply not sure if I'll ever get past this". The honey-blond turned in her spot and was now looking into sad chocolate eyes. "But I want to… And I want you to know that what you did about my… about Hope... Well, it was very thoughtful Jane. And I do appreciate it."

"Did you call her?" Jane asked hesitantly, any subject at the moment would be better than how much she had hurt Maura.

"No. I did not. Not yet. I wanted to ask you to be with me when I do…" She wasn't sure why she needed Jane there to make the call, but she knew she did.

"'Course. Of course I will." The detective had to suppress a smile that was threatening to appear because of Maura's wish for proximity, even if it was just so she could make a call. "Do you wonna sit? I can make you something to eat… I still got some of that oatmeal thingies…" She dared hope the honey-blond would stay for just a little bit longer.

"Thank you. No. I'm not hungry." The M.E. replied and simply looked into Jane's eyes. But the usually fierce chocolate eyes were now restless, as the brunette tried to find some excuse around her that might give her more time.

"Jane?" Maura asked effectively snapping the detective from her line of thought.

"hmm? Ye?" She answered immediately.

"I'm not trying to ignore what you said to me today." Jane knew exactly what she was talking about. "I'm not ready to talk about how I feel because frankly right now there's a lot of hatred mixed in it. But I will tell you I hate hating you at least as much as you hated hating me"

"Thank you… For not ignoring it I mean… um… And it's O.K.. we can talk about it whenever you're ready… Do you maybe wonna watch something? I tiboed something about the Gelpghost Islands I think you might like…I saw they had tortoises or maybe they were turtles, I'm not sure…" She was babbling and she knew it.

Maura couldn't help the smile on her lips "It's the Galapagos Islands. And it's turtles actually, but I appreciate the thought. I should probably get going. Can you call me a cab? I left my car at the precinct"

Jane couldn't hide her disappointment. They were finally back to some sort of bantering and the honey-blond was leaving. "Ye. Ok. Wait, no. I'll take you home"

"No, really, it's fine, I just need…" Maura began saying, but the brunette had already put her shoes on and was no grabbing her keys.

"Please. Let me take you home." Chocolate met hazel and Jane was relieved to see a softness she hadn't seen in two weeks.

Maura smiled at her and nodded and they headed to Jane car.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ride to Maura's house was fairly quite. Maura didn't want to talk so she mostly looked outside her window. Jane couldn't really find anything that was important enough to break the built up silence, though God knows she tried…

"Will you come by my office tomorrow? Sit with me while I make the call?" The M.E. asked after Jane parked in front of her house. The brunette tried not close her eyes, listening to the vulnerability that was now in her friend's voice. _Maybe we still have a chance. If she can still be that vulnerable with me, we'll get there._ But all she answered was "Of Course.", and gave Maura her warmest smile.

This was Maura's cue to leave. "Goodbye Jane" She said and opened the car door. "Thank you. For taking me home I mean." And she left, leaving a smiling detective behind.

Jane just sat there, looking at the shorter woman until she entered her house, relieved to see Maura turn around and smile at her before entering through her front door. _"_She hates hating me. I hated hating her just a couple of months ago and we got over it." Jane said to no one in particular and started driving home.

Since before her conversation with Angela, well, ever since she realized she might be feeling more than a platonic love for the M.E., Jane's mind was racing with thoughts. Just like it was now… Thoughts about every encounter they had. Thoughts about her relationships with men. Thoughts about every woman she had ever felt some connection with. And so far, she had managed a couple of realizations: The first being – she didn't really know herself half as well as she thought she did. The second, and this was a strange one, was that she had found the closest most meaningful relationship she could ever have, a relationship she never dreamt was possible with a man (probably because to her, it wasn't). She didn't want another person to be closer to her than Maura was, and she really didn't want Maura to have someone closer to her then Jane was.

Jane wanted to experience everything about the honey-blond: her laughter, her tears, every tone of voice she might be able to extract from that beautiful mouth of hers, her caress. She wanted to feel everything with this woman. Wanted to see her blissfully happy and more than anything, be the cause of that happiness. She wanted to know what Maura would have to say about almost anything. And her personal favorite thought at the moment - She wanted to see what the honey-blond might look like in a moment of ecstasy. She found herself imagining it, her mouth open, back arched, eyes shutting tightly. The brunette was quite jealous of anyone that had ever had the chance to see that specific site.

Yep, she knew how she felt about her. Friends don't want to make their friends come. They don't want any of the things she wanted with Maura. But if Maura felt the same, and this was a huge if… was she ready to be with a woman? Was she ready to transform those thoughts into actions? _Hell Ye! When did I ever run from a scary situation?_

Now the only thing left to do was wait. Be there for her friend, until the hatred dissolves and the M.E. has a chance to answer those questions herself. She didn't shut her out. And she didn't seem disgusted by Jane's words either. If anything, it seemed to have brought some softness back into her eyes. There was hope. And that was enough for Jane. At least for now…

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rizzoli & Isles. They are owned by Janet Tamaro, TNT and whomever else, but not me. No infringement intended.**

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing\alerting\favoriting\Correcting my English I really do appreciate it! So does the smile that pops on my face with each one .**

Jane Stopped just outside the M.E.'s office. Now that the beautiful honey-blond knew how she felt, hanging out seemed rather, well weird. Maura asked her to come by her office. She was going to call her biological mother. This was obviously a big deal for her. But it was also a big deal for Jane. She had no idea how Maura felt about her, and she had to shake away her detective instincts, telling her to examine every move and gesture the M.E. might make. No, this was just about being there for a friend. Nothing more. She breathed in and entered the office.

Maura lifted her head, and gave the brunette a warm, almost happy look. "Hey" She said slowly and quietly.

"You ready?" Jane asked just as softly and approached the desk, remembering the exchange that happened here the last time she was in the room.

"I think I am." The honey-blond smiled. After Jane had dropped her off, the night before, a newfound calmness came over her. It was still painful. Paddy was shot. He died. But he wasn't her father. Biologically he was, but a few pictures from official moments in her life, had not made him the man who raised her, he was a promise that was now gone. He gave up his life trying to protect her, she could never take that away from him, but the need to blame Jane was slowly dissolving. Jane didn't want him dead. She was still upset about Gabriel, she still felt a little betrayed, but after learning how the brunette felt about her, she knew it wasn't about choosing a guy over her father's safety, it truly was Jane being Jane - law abiding, sometimes black and white-Jane.

So for the first time she allowed herself to actually let the words sink in. They didn't just repeat themselves again and again like before, they were real and they were meaningful. Jane loved her. She was in love with her. The beautiful, bright, surprising woman, who always had a way of making Maura feel special was actually in love with her. She had thought of Jane that way numerous times, but she knew that even if the detective felt the same way, she would probably never act on those feelings. So she always stopped her own mind from exploring the option. Now and then a dream would appear that was a little too vivid to forget, or Jane would look a certain way, or even just give Maura a flirtatious smile, and the thoughts would take hold. Just for a little while, never for too long, her mind after all was quite trained to do as the M.E. pleased it to. This was happy news. And with that thought she finally fell asleep. The same thought she woke up with this morning.

Yes, today was a good day. And right now, she was about to talk to her biological mother. She had waited over 20 years for this moment, and she knew why her mother had to give her up, and it was a good reason. So she was ready.

"Good" Jane smiled back, and sat at the other side of the M.E.'s desk. She was happy to see her best friend smiling at her again. Oh, how she loved that heart-warming, quirky smile.

Maura took her phone and opened the folder in front of her. She dialed the number, just now realizing it wasn't a local one. And she took in a very deep breath.

"Hello? Hope?" She breathed out.

"Yes. Hello." A soft voice answered.

"My name is Maura. Maura Isles, I'm not entirely sure how..." Maura started saying but was interrupted.

"Maura?" Hope asked "Oh God, Maura? But how did you find me?"

"You know who I am?" The M.E. was a little confused, clearly not as much as Jane was.

"Yes, of course I do!"

The conversation went on for another 10 minutes or so. Hope explained that she had followed Maura from city to city all her life, but that in the past few years she had moved out of town after falling in love at the age of 55. She did not know Doyle had died. He kept her updated on Maura's life, every month, but their scheduled monthly call wasn't due for a few days, so she had no reason to worry. The address apparently, was no longer hers. She had asked if she could meet Maura, and after deciding on a date and venue, Maura hung up.

With her eyes closed she took a very deep breath, and felt excited arms enveloping her.

"Oh, my God, Maura! You're gonna meet your bio mom" Jane was genuinely happy for her.

"Yes. Yes I am." Maura whispered softly through her smile and lifted her head to look into the warm eyes of the woman still holding her. "Because of you."

The air was instantly sucked out of the room. Chocolate met hazel and at that moment, neither woman could recall anything but the feeling of their embrace.

Jane was the first to awake from her daze, still not knowing how the shorter woman felt about her, she withdrew, removed her arms and looked away to brace herself. "I'm really, really happy for you."

Disappointed by the sudden distance, Maura took the detective's hand in hers and sqeezed "Thank you Jane"

The brunette could do nothing but smile.

The M.E. let go of her hand. "May I come by later tonight? I'd invite you to my house, but since both are mothers are there, well..."

"Yeah. Sure you can. I'll get some Chinese." Jane answered with a smile.

XXXXX

Jane was standing in nothing but her towel in front of the closet, trying hard to decide what to wear. Maura wanted them to be alone, but this didn't really mean anything, _did it?, _she might just want to talk or even tell Jane she wants them to just stay friends. Every scenario she could think of was a good enough reason not to want their mothers in the conversation.

So how casual should she dress? If she made too big of an effort, Maura would know and if all she wants is a friendship that could be awkward. But she still wanted Maura to be attracted to her. Finally she settled for a pair of tight jeans and a pink v-neck. She was pulling the shirt on when the door bell rang. "Shit" she mumbled and looked in the mirror "A little perky, but it'll have to do".

She galloped to the door and flung it open, scolding herself for not even checking who it is. She was after all a detective - she really did know better. But her thoughts were put to a halt when she took in the view at her front door. Maura was wearing a gorgeously tight black dress, hugging her in all the right places and showing just enough cleavage for Jane to forget were Maura's eyes were. She was holding a bottle of wine and smiling.

"Wow. I mean hi. I'm... I'm sorry. Hi, come in" The evening hasn't even started yet, and already she had scolded herself three times. once for opening the door the way she had, again, for greeting the honey-blond the way she had, and now a third time, for not dressing up a little more.

"Hello Jane" Maura walked inside, obviously pleased with herself but careful not to show Jane.

"You, um... you look... you look amazing Maura." _Now that wasn't too hard was it? Just remember to form complete sentences... _

"Thank you." Maura went straight to the kitchen and worked on opening the wine bottle.

Jane took another second to appreciate the rear end of the beautiful woman in front of her _How could I have not seen how amazing she is? _And then rushed to her kitchen to retrieve two wine glasses.

The M.E. poured the wine, handed Jane a glass and took one herself. Sipping it slowly while leaning against the counter she just looked at Jane who looked like she had no idea what she was supposed to do next.

"May I be honest with you?" Maura asked flatly.

"I thought you're always honest. You can't lie, remember?" The brunette was overjoyed by the little bit of familiarity that came with joking with her friend.

"No. I'm always truthful, but that hardly means I'm always honest." the flirtatious smile that went with that sentence did not go unnoticed by the detective.

"Alright, by all means, be honest" Jane chuckled. And watched Maura put her wine glass on the counter.

Maura remained silent, allowing herself to drown in the deep chocolate that was now looking at her intently. She stepped a little bit closer to Jane, her heart pounding with excitement. The brunette's smile vanished when she realized just how close Maura was to her. The honey-blond closed the distance between them, now standing impossibly close, leaving the taller woman trembling. The wine was threatening to spill from her glass. While Maura took the glass from her hand and placed it on the counter, all Jane could do was follow the hand with her eyes.

"I have wanted to do this... for so long..." Maura whispered lifting her head and drinking in the desire that was evident in the taller woman's eyes. She lifted her hand and gently caressed Jane's cheek with her thumb. The brunette wanted to keep her eyes open, at least until their lips actually met, but she simply couldn't stop them from shutting at the sensation. And then it finally happened, she couldn't tell who in the end kissed whom. But she couldn't care less. The feel of Maura's soft wet lips on her own was so much better than she could have ever imagined it to be. Jane thought the kiss would be just as slow as Maura's approach, so she was intently surprised by how extremely passionate it was. Her hands lifted to the shorter woman's back, pulling her as close as she could while her own neck and waist were being pulled.

When they had to break the kiss for air, Jane kept her eyes closed and said through a huge smile "Screw truthful. I want honest. All the time!"

"I love you Jane. " Maura said quietly but firmly.

"OK. So I want honest and truthful" She was radiating. "Does this mean...?"

"No. But we will get there. I need some time to truly and entirely get past it... But I simply had to kiss you." The shorter woman replied without allowing their eyes to break contact.

"And is that something you're gonna have to do again? Kiss me, I mean..." The taller woman asked hopefully.

"Oh yes. Judging by that kiss, I would say I will have to do it again many, many times. Now, for example." She replied and pulled Jane down to her for another searing kiss.

**The End? - I'm not a big fan of conflict-free writing. And I think we just reached that point. also, I have an idea for a fic that's kinda been stopping me from getting to this one this past week. But, if you really want to know how it goes on from there, let me know and I'll try to write it :)**


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